The proposed Training Program in Hearing and Balance will provide research training to predoctoral and postdoctoral students in the Center for Hearing and Balance. The training focuses on research on the normal and damaged auditory and vestibular systems. Research approaches include neurophysiology, human and animal behavior, theoretical and computational methods, neuroanatomy, molecular biology, genetics, and cellular physiology. The objective is to provide a multi-disciplinary program in which trainees from diverse backgrounds can gain experience with a range of methods. The training faculty consists of 18 faculty members from the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Neurology, Neuroscience, and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University. The trainees will include five predoctoral students recruited from the graduate programs of Biomedical Engineering or Neuroscience and five postdoctoral fellows with appropriate doctoral degrees recruited directly to the program and appointed in one of the participating departments. At all levels, training will focus on research, taking advantage of the excellent research facilities available in the Center. Trainees participate in the weekly research seminar of the Center as well as one of the available journal clubs. The program provides a year-long core course in Hearing and Balance and specialty courses in molecular, cellular, and systems biology and in computation and theory. Predoctoral trainees generally participate for up to five years and postdoctoral trainees for two to three years. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The accelerating pace of modern neuroscience research offers the possibility of ameliorating or curing a number of conditions previously considered uncurable, including sensorineural deafness and a variety of balance disorders. In order to take advantage of these opportunities, scientists and clinicians trained in the latest research approaches are needed. It is that sort of training that is the goal of the Center.